Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy has asked the power utilities to gear up for meeting the anticipated rise in demand during the summer. He ordered that special focus be laid on supplying power to the farm sector for nine hours during the day.
Taking stock of the power supply situation on Sunday, Mr. Srinivasa Reddy stressed the need for interruption-free power supply to crop fields during the rabi.
Officials informed the Minister that the demand for power from the agriculture and allied sectors was 19,096 MU in 2021-22 financial year and it is expected to increase to 19,819 MU in 2022-23. The projected cumulative energy demand from March to May, 2022 has been put at 20,143 MU.
The actual energy demand recorded in the 2018 calendar year was 63,097 MU, which went up by 8.5% to 68,431 MU for the same period in 2020-21. Similarly, the average peak demand in 2018 was 8,933 MW and it increased to 10,160 MW in 2021.
The CMDs of DISCOMs H. Haranatha Rao, J. Padma Janardhana Reddy and K. Santhosha Rao said an action plan was being prepared to meet the imminent spurt in demand.
Coal stock
AP- Genco MD B. Sreedhar said necessary steps were taken to maintain adequate coal stocks at thermal power plants to cater to the burgeoning demand.
